Three victories for Scuderia Corsa in Ferrari Challenge at Laguna Seca

Laguna Seca was good to the Scuderia Corsa team, taking home three wins from three poles.

May 19, 2014 (Los Angeles, Calif.) - It was another strong weekend for the four Scuderia Corsa drivers in the North American Ferrari Challenge as they competed at the world-famous Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in Salinas, California. By the conclusion of racing on Sunday, Scuderia Corsa had collected three pole positions, three victories, one third place, and one team trophy.

In the Trofeo Pirelli division, Harry Cheung would have a dominant race on Saturday as he qualified on pole, lead every lap, and took his first victory of the year. The race was hard-fought, however, as Cheung withstood heavy pressure for his lead position throughout most of the race. However, Cheung would be unable to contend for a second victory in Sunday's race, as contact during the opening lap forced him to retire his Ferrari 458 Challenge Evoluzione.

John Horesji continued to adapt quickly to the Ferrari Challenge. In his second weekend with Scuderia Corsa, Horesji finished a strong sixth on Saturday and fifth on Sunday in the Trofeo Pirelli division. His drive to fifth on Sunday was an impressive performance as he had qualified in 16th position.

"I'm super happy with the result that we had on Saturday," said Cheung, who lives near Laguna Seca in Portola Valley. "The team set the car up perfectly and I had a great time racing here at Laguna Seca, which is one of my favorite tracks. I enjoyed a great battle with Ricardo Perez - he would close up on certain parts of the track and then I could establish a gap in other parts. It was a really fun race and I'm excited to score my first win of the year."

Scuderia Corsa's dominance in the Coppa Shell category continued as Chris Ruud scored both victories on the weekend, as well as qualifying on the Coppa Shell pole for each race. Ruud handily won the Coppa Shell category on each day, finishing a very strong fourth overall in Saturday's race. Ruud now has four of the six Coppa Shell victories on the season. Jon Becker finished in seventh position in Saturday's race, before coming back with a strong drive on Sunday to finish third in the Coppa Shell class.

"We had a good qualifying session for each race," said Ruud. "I was very fortunate to lay down a fast lap in the early stages of qualifying. This allowed me to run a straightforward, clean race without too many mistakes which helped me keep my position. All in all it was a fantastic weekend with two pole positions and two victories - it doesn't get better than that."

"It's amazing to be on the podium with my teammate Chris Ruud," said Becker. "It was a great race, the Ferrari was great, and how spectacular is it to be racing here at Laguna Seca with Ferrari Challenge?"

The owner of Scuderia Corsa, Giacomo Mattioli, expressed his excitement at the weekend's strong finishes for Becker, Cheung, Horsesji, and Ruud. The weekend was made more exciting for Mattioli as the Ferrari Silicon Valley dealership, which he co-owns with Art Zafiropoulo, was the hosting dealership for the weekend. Clients from the dealership enjoyed lapping session around Laguna Seca, a tech talk in the Scuderia Corsa paddock, Ferrari North America VIP hospitality, and a rally from the dealership to the track on Sunday morning.

"It was a great weekend for the Scuderia Corsa drivers, and I'm very pleased with the results from Laguna Seca, our home track," said Mattioli. We came home with a total of five trophies and three pole positions, so it was definitely a great weekend! Chris Ruud had a magic weekend with a double victory and double pole positions. It was also great to have 50 Ferrari Silicon Valley clients participating in a rally to Laguna Seca to cheer for the team. They were able to enjoy an amazing Ferrari program that included lapping sessions around the track, VIP hospitality, and of course great Ferrari Challenge races."

The next round for the Scuderia Corsa drivers in the North American Ferrari Challenge will be June 6-8 at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. That race will be a part of the Formula 1 World Championship weekend.